‘Severe’ rail disruption caused by broken down train near Three Bridges

A broken down train on the Brighton Mainline caused services between London and Sussex to come to a standstill last night (October 9).

The incident took place just outside Three Bridges Station at 10.15pm, on the ‘fast’ railway line towards Sussex, and because engineering work was taking place on the slow line, no services could run for more than an hour.

It affected passengers from all over Sussex travelling back from London.

“A Cambridge to Brighton train broke down just before Three Bridges station at around 10.15pm, blocking the southbound fast line.

“Unfortunately, the slow lane was closed for engineering work at the time, so we were unable to run any services around the faulty train until it could be removed, shortly before midnight. We arranged ticket acceptance on local buses.

Jane Langley of Worthing said the claim that ticket acceptance had been arranged on local buses ‘categorically was not conveyed to passengers’.

She said: “Last night was hideous, 1.5hr delay on top of a 1.5hr journey and getting home alone at 1am is simply not okay.”

“One announcement at unscheduled stop Horley was that doors would be opened to allow passengers to disembark (no mention of buses) and multiple passengers calling taxi companies, family and friends - those successful in arranging lifts then found themselves hijacked without warning as the train left the station with absolutely no warning. They then found themselves at Gatwick where they had to cancel all their lifts.

“At a time of major disruption information is key to passengers being able to make informed choices about alternative travel. Safety is also key when most trains seem to be unstaffed and most stations are unstaffed. Combine that with complete lack of information passengers are effectively abandoned.”

Were you affected by the disruption last night? If you wish to share your experience, email bex.bastable@jpress.co.uk